On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on August 07:
317 Constantius II Roman emperor (337-61)
1598 Georg Stiernhielm "father of Swedish poetry" (Hercules)
1742 Nathanael Greene American Revolutionary War General
1779 Carl Ritter cofounder of modern science of geography
1783 John Heathcoat inventor (lace-making machinery)
1829 Thomas Ewing Jr, Major General, Bvt (Union volunteers), died in 1896
1833 Powell Clayton, Brig General (Union volunteers)/(Gov-R-Ark)
1836 Evander McIvor Law, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1920
1876 Mata Hari dancer/courtesan/spy (WW I)
1885 Billie Burke Washington DC, actress (Glinda-The Wizard of Oz)
1886 Louis Hazeltine inventor (neutrodyne circuit, making radio possible)
1903 Louis Leakey anthropologist (1964 Richard Hooper Medal)
1904 Ralph J Bunche a founder & UN diplomat (Nobel 1950)
1921 Karel Husa Prague Czechoslovakia, composer (Trojan Women)
1926 Stan Freberg LA Calif, satirist/ad executive
1927 Edwin W Edwards (Gov-La)
1927 Carl Switzer, IL, actor (Alfalfa-Our Gang)
1928 Amazing "James" Randi Toronto Ontario, skeptic magician
1929 Don Larsen pitcher (NY Yankees), on what must have been a perfect day
1929 Ruth Carter-Stapleton Plains Ga, 1st sister/evangelist
1933 Jerry [Eugene] Pournelle, US, sci-fi author (Mercenary, Red Dragon)
1938 Helen Caldicott Melbourne Australia, physician/anti-war activist/moral midget
1940 Marlyn Mason San Fernando Cal, actress (Making It, Peyton Place)
1942 B.J. Thomas singer (Raindrops, Growing Pains Theme)
1942 Garrison Keillor PBS radio personality/world class jerk (Prairie Home Companion)
1945 Alan Page defensive tackle (Minn Vikings)
1956 Kent V Rominger Del Norte Colo, US Navy Lt Commander/astronaut
1958 Alberto Salazar marathoner (NYC Marathon Winner)
1960 Jacquie O'Sullivan rocker (Bananarama-Venus)
Deaths which occurred on August 07:
1106 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1056/84-1105), dies at 54
1657 Robert Blake, English admiral (Dover, Dungeness), dies at about 57
1848 Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (atomic weight), dies at 68
1916 Charles E Manning, Australian judge/major, dies in battle at 36
1931 Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist (In Mist), dies at 29
1942 Richard Gott, Brit gen/commandant of 8th Army, dies in battle at 43
1957 Oliver Hardy comedian of Laurel & Hardy, dies at 65
1991 Shapur Bahktiar, PM of Iran (1979), assassinated
1991 Shotzie Cincinnati Red dog mascot, dies at 9
1997 Vincent Gulliver, Britain's oldest man, dies at 109
2000 Sir Alec Guinness, actor (George Smiley) died at a southern England hospital at age 86
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 GRAY HAROLD EDWIN JR. NEW YORK NY.
1966 BRAZELTON MICHAEL L. INGLEWOOD CA.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 FRYER CHARLES WIGGER OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
1966 GIDEON WILLARD S. SILVER SPRINGS MD.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 MORAN RICHARD ALLAN FORT SMITH AR.
1966 PYLE THOMAS S. NEW CASTLE DE.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 SANDVICK ROBERT J. GLASGOW MT.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 WENDELL JOHN H. HOUSTON TX.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 CHAMBERS CARL D. SANTA MONICA CA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 WILSON GLENN H. ST. ALBANS WV.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED]
1971 BERG BRUCE A. OLYMPIA WA.
POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.
On this day...
0626 Battle at Constantinople: Slavic/Persians/Avarenvloot defeated
768 Stephen III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0936 Otto I the Great becomes King of Germany
1498 Columbus arrives in Caribbean
1620 Kepler's mother arrested for witchcraft
1620 Battle at Ponts-the-C‚, Poitou: French king Louis XIII beats his mother Marie de Medici
1760 Ft Loudon Tennessee surrenders to Cherokee Indians
1782 George Washington creates Order of the Purple Heart
1789 US War Department established
1814 Pope Pius VII reinstates Jesuits
1819 Battle of Boyac Simon Bolivar defeats Spanish in Colombia
1820 1st potatoes planted in Hawaii
1882 Hatfields of south WV & McCoys of east Ky feud, 100 wounded or die
1888 Theophilus Van Kannel of Phila patents revolving door
1906 In North Carolina, a mob defies a court order and lynches three African Americans which becomes known as "The Lyerly Murders.
1909 US issues 1st Lincoln penny
1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominates Theodore Roosevelt for pres
1927 Peace Bridge between US & Canada dedicated
1929 Ruth ties record by hitting grand slams in consecutive games
1930 2 black men lynched in Marion Indiana
1934 US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down govt's attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"
1935 60% of voters agrees to Nazism (NSDAP) in Danzig (Gdansk)
1938 Nazi's close theology department of Innsbruck university
1940 Largest amount paid for a stamp ($45,000 for 1 cent 1856 British Guiana)
1941 551 Jews are shot in Kishnev ghetto in Romania
1942 1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is
1946 1st coin bearing portrait of Negro authorized
1947 Balsa raft Kon Tiki crashes into a Polynesian archipelago reef
1950 Police bar white players-Lou Chirban, Stan Mierko, and Frank Dyle, from playing in Negro League
1951 Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket reaches 1,992 kph
1953 Eastern Airlines enters the jet age, uses Electra prop-jet
1954 Charles Mahoney becomes 1st US black to serve as a full UN delegate
1959 Explorer 6 transmits 1st TV photo of Earth from space
1960 Ivory Coast gains independence from France
1960 Students stage kneel-in demonstrations in Atlanta churches
1961 Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2
1961 Soviet premier Khrushchev predicts USSR economy will surpass US (In your dreams)
1964 US Congress approves Gulf of Tonkin resolution
1966 Race riot in Lansing Michigan
1966 The United States loses seven planes over North Vietnam, the most in the war up to this point.
1970 1st computer chess tournament
1970 4, including presiding judge, killed in courthouse shootout in San Rafael, Calif (Police charge Angela Davis provided weapons)
1971 Apollo 15 returns to Earth
1972 Hall of Fame inducts Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez & Early Wynn
1974 Philippe Petit walks tightrope strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Center
1976 US Viking 2 goes into Martian orbit after 11-month flight from Earth
1976 Scientists in Pasadena, Calif, announce Viking I found strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars
1978 Thousands of mourners file past the body of Pope Paul VI
1983 Grete Waitz of Norway, wins 1st all-women Marathon (Helsinki Fin)
1983 Some 675,000 employees strike AT&T
1984 Japan beats US for olympic gold medal in baseball
1985 Barbra Streisand records "The Broadway Album"
1985 Baseball players end a 2 day strike
1986 Daniel Buettner, Bret Anderson, Martin Engel & Anne Knabe begin cycling journey of 15,266 miles from Prudhoe Bay Alaska to Argentina
1987 5 Central American presidents sign peace accord in Guatemala
1987 Lynne Cox swims 4.3 km from US to USSR in 39ø F (4ø C) Bering Sea
1988 Writers guild end their 6 months strike
1990 Desert Shield begin-US deploys troops to Saudi Arabia
1990 Saudi Arabia allows US troops on their soil to stop an Iraqi invasion
1991 Court rules Manuel Noriega, may access some secret US documents
1991 Manhattan Cable final day of amnesty to return illegal cable boxes
1994 1st telephone link between Israel and Jordan
2000 Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate. (Sore/Loserman)
2001 The Vatican denounced what it called a "slanderous campaign" against the Roman Catholic Church over the Holocaust-era pope, Pius XII.
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Tightrope Walking Day
National Sandwich Month
Columbia : Battle of Boyac (1819)
Ivory Coast/C“te d'Ivoire : Independence Day (1760)
Trinidad & Tobago : Discovery Day (1498)
US : National Smile Week (day 6)
Simply Your Life Week Ends
Psychic Month
Religious Observances
Ang, Episcopal : Feast of Holy Name of Jesus
RC : Memorial of Sixtus II, pope, & his companions, martyrs (opt)
RC, Ang : Memorial of St Cajetan, confessor (opt)
Ang : Commemoration of John Mason Neale, priest
Religious History
0117 Death of Marcus Trajan, 65, Roman emperor from A.D. 98-117. His attitude toward Christianity gradually changed from toleration to persecution. It was during Trajan's rule that Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch was martyred.
1409 The Council of Pisa closed. Convened to end the Great Schism (1378-1417) caused by two rival popes, the Council in fact elected a third pope, Alexander V (afterwards regarded as an antipope).
1560 Ratification of the Scots Confession by the Scottish Parliament marked the triumph of the Reformation in Scotland, under the leadership of John Knox. (In 1647, the Scots Confession was superseded by the Westminster Confession.)
1852 Birth of Franklin L. Sheppard, Presbyterian organist and hymnbook editor. It was Sheppard who composed the hymn tune TERRA PATRIS, to which we sing "This is My Father's World."
1878 Missouri Synod Lutheran Church founder C. F. W. Walther wrote in a letter: 'Do not deny the Word of God when it speaks to you.'
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
Media Reports of the Apocalypse...
America Online:
SYSTEM TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE. TRY CALLING BACK IN 15 MINUTES
You Might Be An Engineer If...
You frequently whistle the theme song to "MacGyver."
Doggie Dictionary...
LEASH: A strap which attaches to your collar, enabling you to lead your person where you want him/her to go
Dumb Laws...
Le Lavandou France:
It is forbidden without a cemetery plot to die on the territory of the commune.
If SAMWolf became an evil overlord...
MAKE SURE that your doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded!
1782 George Washington creates Order of the Purple Heart
The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was established by General George Washington by order from his headquarters at Newburgh, New York, August 7, 1782. The writings of General Washington quoted in part:
"The General ever desirous to cherish a virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military Merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding. Not only instances of unusual gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward".
b. So far as the known surviving records show, this honor badge was granted to only three men, all of them noncommissioned officers: Sergeant Daniel Bissell of the 2d Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Line; Sergeant William Brown of the 5th Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Line, and Sergeant Elijah Churchill of the 2d Continental Dragoons, which was also a Connecticut Regiment. The original Purple Heart depicted on the first page is a copy of the badge awarded to Sergeant Elijah Churchill and is now owned by the New Windsor Cantonment, National Temple Hill Association, PO Box 525, Vails Gate, NY 12584. The only other known original badge is the badge awarded to Sergeant William Brown and is in the possession of The Society of the Cincinnati, New Hampshire Branch but differs in design by not having any lettering embroidered on the heart and the leaves are at the top only with a larger spray of leaves at the base.
c. Subsequent to the Revolution, the Order of the Purple Heart had fallen into disuse and no further awards were made. By Order of the President of the United States, the Purple Heart was revived on the 200th Anniversary of George Washington's birth, out of respect to his memory and military achievements, by War Department General Orders No. 3, dated 22 February 1932. The criteria was announced in War Department Circular dated 22 February 1932 and authorized award to soldiers, upon their request, who had been awarded the Meritorious Service Citation Certificate or were authorized to wear wound chevrons subsequent to 5 April 1917.
d. During the early period of World War II (7 Dec 41 to 22 Sep 43), the Purple Heart was awarded both for wounds received in action against the enemy and for meritorious performance of duty. With the establishment of the Legion of Merit, by an Act of Congress, the practice of awarding the Purple Heart for meritorious service was discontinued. By Executive Order 9277, dated 3 December 1942, the decoration was extended to be applicable to all services and the order required that regulations of the Services be uniform in application as far as practicable. This executive order also authorized award only for wounds received.
e. Executive Order 10409, dated 12 February 1952, revised authorizations to include the Service Secretaries subject to approval of the Secretary of Defense. Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, included provisions for posthumous award of the Purple Heart. Executive Order 12464, dated 23 February 1984, authorized award of the Purple Heart as a result of terrorist attacks or while serving as part of a peacekeeping force subsequent to 28 March 1973.
f. The Senate approved an amendment to the 1985 Defense Authorization Bill on 13 June 1985, which changed the precedent from immediately above the Good Conduct Medal to immediately above the Meritorious Service Medals. Public Law 99-145 authorized the award for wounds received as a result of "friendly fire". Public Law 104-106 expanded the eligibility date, authorizing award of the Purple Heart to a former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962.
g. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year1998 (Public Law 105-85) changed the criteria to delete authorization for award of the Purple Heart Medal to any civilian national of the United States while serving under competent authority in any capacity with the Armed Forces. This change was effective 18 May 1998.
h. Order of precedence and wear of decorations is contained in Army Regulation 670-1. Policy for awards, approving authority, supply, and issue of decorations is contained in AR 600-8-22.
